Henrico Schools’ theater teachers raise concerns about after-school pay

After 19 years of serving as the Drama head for J.R. Tucker High School, putting on dozens of plays, musicals, and one act shows, theater teacher Lisa Dyer will be stepping down from her after school position.

It was a very difficult decision to make, Dyer said, but she could not continue to justify working hundreds of hours after school each year to be paid less than what head coaches at her high school make in just one athletic season.

“I am in agony over this decision, but the toll, the volume and all-encompassing nature of being a theater teacher is taking on my life is too much to continue without a significant change in compensation,” she said. “I’m terrified that my action will result in the end of the theater program I’ve spent the last 19 years of my life cultivating.”

For the more than 600 hours Dyer calculated that she spends each year to put on at least two major shows, she receives an annual stipend of $2,801. A head coach for high school basketball at the same pay step as Dyer receives a $3,541 stipend and a head coach for high school football receives $4,271, according to Henrico Schools’ 2025 Pay Plan.

Most assistant coaches at the high school level make the same stipend as Dyer’s, but for a single athletic season, which typically lasts between 45-50 days. After school rehearsals for each major theater show last every school day for seven to nine weeks, meaning drama heads, many of whom don’t have drama assistants, do significantly more work than an assistant coach throughout the year, Dyer said.

“I’m often the only adult present for up to 60 students during daily two hour rehearsals,” she said. “The stipend for theater teachers is for the entire year, but it is akin to assistant coach for many high school sports. How is this okay?”

Dyer said she first brought up the pay inequity to HCPS’ human resources team in 2022 and was told that the issue of stipends countywide was being addressed with a task force. This past April, Dyer and several other theater teachers met with HCPS leaders to discuss the stipends.

HCPS leaders are currently reviewing the “extended responsibilities” stipends and determining whether to make any changes, HCPS Communications Director Eileen Cox said. HCPS also increased staff stipends by 7.2% for this upcoming school year and 8.2% last year, Cox said.

“The school division routinely analyzes job descriptions/compensations and adjusts as funding allows,” she said. “In fact, a review of Extended Responsibility stipends was identified as a priority during the FY 25 budget development process and is currently underway.

But Dyer said that after two years of her pushing for the pay gap to be closed, she decided it would be best to step down from the Drama Head position, while still remaining a theater teacher at Tucker High.

“I feel utterly disregarded and devalued as a professional, and I’m really disappointed with the lack of movement on something that is clearly in desperate need of attention,” she said. “I understand things take time in public education, but two contract cycles must be time enough to rectify such an egregious inequity in compensation.”

Theater students at Tucker addressed the Henrico School Board about the issue at last week’s public forum, saying that with Dyer stepping down, they are worried that Tucker students will no longer have an after school theater program, losing both their artistic outlet and their community.

“In my opinion, the fine arts at J.R. Tucker are dying, and we need to do something about it,” said Michael Farley, a rising senior at Tucker. “Many students may not have an after school activity they can belong to…I know many people who want to study performing arts in college who will not have an opportunity to gain experience or build a portfolio.”

“If teachers are not compensated for the time and effort that they put into their productions, extracurricular theater is no longer an option for students,” said Tucker rising senior Aly Daugherty. “The opportunity to be involved in performing arts is a special part of my school life and many others’, and it hurts me and my classmates to see how underappreciated our teachers of the arts are.”

HCPS parents also took to the school board’s online public forum to voice their concerns – not just about the theater program at Tucker, but about the other middle and high school theater teachers across the county as well. In a document sent to HCPS leaders, Dyer and other theater teachers calculated that a $2,801 stipend for a high school drama head putting on two shows each year would amount to $4.47 an hour, while one middle school drama head’s $975 stipend would amount to $1.65 an hour for two shows.

“My child has immensely benefited from this class, it is unfair to know the teacher who puts in so much effort into shaping these young minds is not compensated appropriately,” said HCPS parent Mohammed Ali. “Theater productions/classes should be on par with every other extracurricular activity.”

“The amount of time that these teachers contribute into preparing and putting on a production of a work of art is enormous,” HCPS parent Patricia Kelly said. “Does the county value theater and the arts less than athletics? Are these students considered sub-par to those who play sports?”

HCPS parent Leigh Orr, who was the president of a parent-run theater booster club for her child’s school, said she worked side by side with the school’s theater teacher on productions and saw firsthand how much work she did, often as the only teacher present: directing, running lines, sewing costumes, choreographing, designing the stage, and more.

“These theater teachers work long hours, often missing time with their own families, to ensure these students can not only learn about the performing arts, but experience them,” she said. “For many kids, it was their only group of friends and the one place they felt safe to be themselves. Yet every other program has so much more school/community and financial support.”

HCPS must better prioritize school theater programs and theater teachers, Tucker parent Mary Davis said, or risk losing more drama heads because of the pay gap.

“Mrs. Dyer spends countless hours building up these kids and helping them exercise their creativity, finding their true selves in the midst of it,” she said. “Henrico students need these teachers. They should be paid adequately for their work.”

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Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s Report for America Corps member and education reporter. Her position is dependent upon reader support; make a tax-deductible contribution to the Citizen through RFA here.